Helen, the absolute simplest way is to buy a telescoping pole and a martin house. Now the cheap plastic one that you have to snap together is what I have and the birds seem to like it just fine. The $100 plus price on the others always put me off. I saw Wal-Mart has the plastic ones back near the garden center for around $30. It just sits on top of the pole. I just used plastic ties to fasten the pole to a fence post (corner of the garden...square wooden one.) You just push a button on a spring to collapse the pole. I was afraid to set the post in concrete.....thinking the minute I did, I would want it somewhere else. The plastic house seems flimsy but unless it falls crashing to the ground, it didn't seem that the weather didn't hurt it last year. The front snaps down for cleaning out old nests. Someday, I will probably invest in a better one. If you ever have these birds you will want them coming back! Do some online research before you buy; I am no expert by any means. I believe each manufacturer of the houses has their own telescoping poles to fit the bottom of the house. Good luck. Glenda

Birding by ear is a very difficult skill to acquire. I know some birders that are amazing at it. They will come home with checklists twice as diverse as mine, even after birding the same spots at the same time, all because they could ID many more birds by song than I could. I continue to work on it all the time. I get rusty over the winter! I currently can hear an Indigo Bunting singing across my street (as I type this). As a summer resident, I can recognize them pretty well. They basically never shut up. But for the spring migrants- forget it! I have to relearn their songs every spring. One of these years I'll retain that stuff better. Just as you said; these guys won't make a stage appearance for us. Makes it tough to learn, especially once the leaves are filling in. Many tree leaves are much bigger than warblers and those little birds are nearly impossible to see. Most birders I know just ID them by song instead. We can visit sites like xeno-canto to listen to clips that include song variations from each species that have been recorded and IDd. These are files that are uploaded by users. All About Birds is great but not as comprehensive. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.xeno-canto.org/

Looks like a hen got out of a caged area, or lost. They are no match for wild predators, of course. Poor chicky didn't have a chance in the wild outdoors. Predators must eat. I've been enjoying all the wonderful photos and stories. Jane, Susan and others, I love your hawk photos and, as I only know two or three hawks, I would like you to give the ID, if you know it. Were the above hawks Redtail and then Cooper's? I have had two gangs of wild turkeys, woodchuck (adorable pest, dug next to the foundation, Grrr), and my buddies, the Virginia opossum/s. A few weeks ago there was a black bear sleeping in a roadside maple a few hundred feet uphill from us. For the past few days there has been a "big brown bat" in the house. I suspect he/she got into the house when DH removed the stovepipe to clean it. He did block the flue opening, so maybe "B-cubed" was in the section of wide stovepipe and tumbled out before the stovepipe was taken outside. Two nights ago, I waited until dusk dark, open the front door wide, and waited to see if the B-cubed would exit. Nothing. I hoped that BBB had flown out the opened kitchen window the day before. But, no. Last night DH slept in a chair in the room where B-cubed was last spotted. He heard it moving or landing or flying around. Well, this morning, we looked around the area where it had disappeared and found it clinging to some wainscoting in the shadow of some furniture. We moved it into a little metal cage for now. We tried to let it go outside but of course it was daylight, and cold wind blowing and ruffling its fur. The guy had not eaten or had any fluid for two days or more, so we brought it back into the cage and inside the house and put a little bit a water in her dish and some bread. Maybe we can get some live mealworms at a pet store. I have the cage covered to keep it dark. But here is my dilemma: since the bat arrived the temperatures have gone from 48 to 28°F and I would think the big brown bat should be in hibernation this time of year (?). I want this bat to live, and so I don't want him to succumb to the frigid night weather. I thought that maybe we could drive to where it there is a cow barn of something and let it go at dusk; but that isn't much of a guarantee is it? Any suggestions? Thanks. ed-- for clarity

Right now the porterweeds are being used the most. I have three types of large porterweeds--red, lavender and dark purple. The hummers love all of them. Also the red firespikes are favorites now. The Hamelia Pantens (firebush) are in full bloom and they get a lot of use as do a number of salvias---probably the favorite now is Phyllis Fancy. Finally, the white cestrums are excellent for both hummers and butterflies. They keep going through blooming cycles. If you want any cuttings just let me know.